Garden State Parkway Exit 163 (NJ 17)

[swbrotha100]

So there are plans to change the left exits on the Parkway to Route 17 to right exits. Wondering if they will try taking out other left exits down the road. Some links below:

http://paramus.patch.com/articles/exit-163

http://www.state.nj.us/turnpike/our-projects.html

[jeffandnicole]

On the GSP, the majority of left lane ramps are for the service plazas, and there are no plans to do away with them.

This particular location, from what I read, tended to have traffic congestion that would back up onto the GSP...in the left lane.  Further south, the left exits/entrances are in more rural areas.  One left lane on-ramp I'm familiar with had its accel lane extended to accommodate motorists, rather than a complete reconstruction.

[Alps]

The reason these exits are being taken out is because of the backups caused by shopping traffic on 17. The NJ Tpk. Authority would rather the stopped traffic queue up on the right side of the road instead of the left. The only other place where I could see them making a similar decision in the future is northbound Exit 153 to NJ 3 WB, which can back up because of the US 46 merge. (It's also around a fairly blind left curve.)

[swbrotha100]

I remember left exits at Exit 153 (NJ 3) and 155P (NJ 19). I was wondering about those in particular. I believe every other major highway it intersects in North Jersey has the exits on the right.

[Alps]

I remember left exits at Exit 153 (NJ 3) and 155P (NJ 19). I was wondering about those in particular. I believe every other major highway it intersects in North Jersey has the exits on the right.

155P is going to stay - it's a high-speed interchange with free-flowing characteristics. Then you have left exits on both roadways for NJ 3, but only the NB side is prone to delays in my experience. Let's not forget the left exits/entrances for the Montvale service area, either. That's it north of the Raritan River, but you have more service areas and the Express/Local crossovers that can be on the left side as you head south. Trying to think if any ramps come off the left, but I think it's just service areas for the most part.

[jeffandnicole]

I remember left exits at Exit 153 (NJ 3) and 155P (NJ 19). I was wondering about those in particular. I believe every other major highway it intersects in North Jersey has the exits on the right.

155P is going to stay - it's a high-speed interchange with free-flowing characteristics. Then you have left exits on both roadways for NJ 3, but only the NB side is prone to delays in my experience. Let's not forget the left exits/entrances for the Montvale service area, either. That's it north of the Raritan River, but you have more service areas and the Express/Local crossovers that can be on the left side as you head south. Trying to think if any ramps come off the left, but I think it's just service areas for the most part.

Interchange 13 - the SB on ramp is on the left
Interchange 20 - the NB off ramp is on the left

Neither of these cause any congestion.

If you want to exaggerate the concept of an off-ramp, the Intersections at Interchanges 9, 10 & 11 are left channel turns lanes (which is ironic, considering how NJ loves jughandles).

[roadman65]

I believe left side exits are on the  way out everywhere!  To me they are annoying, and when you get someone who obeys the 55 mph speed limit when the 85 percentile is doing 80, it causes back ups.

I wish for one FDOT would get rid of the Left side FL 435 exits on I-4.  You have tourists who are not only confused about where they are at, but many slow down too much and almost to a stop.  I-4 the average speed through that area by the 85 percentile is 70, and then you have a back up because some tourist is not sure where to exit for Universal despite the many guide signs.

Left merges are dangerous as well.  I-4 has two of them at South Street in Downtown Orlando and I have used both and if you are not aggressive you will have difficulty merging.

Then in NJ on the infamous Pulaski Skyway, you have the left side merges at Broadway in Jersey City and South Kearney in Kearney.   These are very dangerous!  You have no merge area and a very limited sight distance to see who is traveling in the left lane.  Even with the 2014 construction planned, you cannot even rid these center ramps because of the way the Skyway is constructed.  You would have to rebuild the whole interchange area and add new ramps all together.

[vdeane]

In Rochester we just pass on the right.

[Pete from Boston]

Work is expected to start in June:

http://www.northjersey.com/mobile/news/left-lane-garden-state-parkway-exits-to-route-17-in-paramus-to-be-replaced-in-68m-project-1.1005351

Two left-lane exits from the Garden State Parkway to Route 17 in Paramus will be replaced over the next two years in a $68 million effort to relieve rush-hour tie-ups that often force drivers to jam on the brakes as traffic backs up into the fastest travel lane.

...

The project, being done by the Ferreira Construction Company of Branchburg, is expected to start in June and be completed by 2017. It will involve shifting the northbound and southbound travel lanes to the center median, Chief Engineer Robert Fischer said. That means constructing a half-mile stretch of entirely new roadway in what is currently a grass median that separates the north and south bound parkway lanes.

The existing exit ramps will remain where they are, but with the main travel lanes shifted to the left, the ramps to Route 17 will be sitting to the right of the road when the project is completed. Fischer said the ramps will travel under the parkway in both directions.

[Alps]

They really need to do this NB at Route 3 where everyone goes 40 in the left lane. 17's traffic is caused by weekend shoppers, and it'll still back way up the ramp, just now on the right side instead of the left. Of course, the NJTA can only solve the Parkway side - NJDOT has to find a way to fix 17, but it's highly unlikely they can squeeze another lane in there.

[PHLBOS]

Good news & a welcome change (when completed) indeed.   

They really need to do this NB at Route 3 where everyone goes 40 in the left lane. 17's traffic is caused by weekend shoppers, and it'll still back way up the ramp, just now on the right side instead of the left.

Agree 100%.

[Henry]

About time they did something about it!

[Pete from Boston]

Long ago when I was a senior in high school, there was a girl I was always busting out to chase down, and the trip involved the turn from the GSP to 17 South.  The exit being in the left lane meant, to my 17-year-old logic, that entering it at about 70mph was a reasonable expectation.  Except halfway along that ramp, right where it turns hard to the left, is a deep storm drain grate that would just about make me lose control of the car.  I'd always remember it almost in time, but I'd be driving too excited and thus regularly hit it and bounce around in a panic anyway.

I still get a little sentimental for that girl and for high school whenever I almost hit that storm drain too fast since then, and I think I might actually be a little sad to see it go.

[froggie]

NJDOT has to find a way to fix 17, but it's highly unlikely they can squeeze another lane in there.

IMO, the problem on 17 isn't so much the lack of lanes as it is the over-multitude of driveways and access points.

[Pete from Boston]

NJDOT has to find a way to fix 17, but it's highly unlikely they can squeeze another lane in there.

IMO, the problem on 17 isn't so much the lack of lanes as it is the over-multitude of driveways and access points.

Money talks.  17 is the backbone for the highest-value retail district in the United States, so driveways are the rule to which the road/traffic must adapt.

Of course, this could be changed by making a push toward fewer smaller businesses and more big-box/strip developments (and thus fewer access points), but I think the small businesses have it bad enough as it is.  The market is already pretty much doing its best to eliminate them without our help.

The real interesting nut to crack is going to be the four-lane 17 south of Farview Ave down to Essex St (Rochelle Park and Maywood).  As I posted in the New Jersey thread, there's apparently no funding yet for what will probably be a very expensive ROW acquisition (though in the 25 years or so I've been paying attention, I have noticed that at least no one has really been building anything new up close to the road).